


Delicate

by BloodyAugust



Series: Muses from Songs [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, F/F, Inspired by Music, Maximum Victory - Freeform, No Rewind Powers, Regret, chasefield, minor amberprice, smut with plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 10:23:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16659382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodyAugust/pseuds/BloodyAugust
Summary: You have to sacrifice something in order to gain everything.But Victoria will always regret sacrificing that one good thing in her life.At her most delicate moment, she meets the one person who can give her hope again.Max Caulfield.





	Delicate

**Author's Note:**

> Confession: Taylor Swift has always reminded me of Victoria Chase. So when I watched Taylor Swift's Delicate MV on Youtube last week, I was inspired to write a story about Victoria Chase choosing fame over love, and losing everything that keeps her sane in the process.
> 
> I originally wanted to write a fic based on the MV, i.e. she becoming invisible and only Max can see her. But as with all my stories, this takes on a life on its own and goes in a different direction.
> 
> I will likely add more songs-inspired fics in the future, all having a different story and universe. Hope you will enjoy this.
> 
> Kudos and comments are most welcome!

 

“Oh my god, Chloe! Have you heard?”

“Heard what?”

“Tom is breaking up with Victoria!”

“Victoria? _That_ Victoria Fucking Chase?”

Rachel nods.

“Apparently, he found her cheating on him.”

“What? How did he find out?”

“I heard he walked in on her doing the nasty.”

“Holy shit! That’s juicy.”

“It’s all over the news. Tom has already sold the story to TMZ!”

“He what?! Wow. He must really hate Victoria to do something like that.”

“Sucks to be her right now. She has a new movie coming out next week. This will definitely affect the box office. I bet the paparazzi are stalking out at her apartment.”

“Serves her right. She has always been a bitch since Blackwell days. Glad she’s finally getting what she deserves, am I right, Mad Max?”

Chloe and Rachel turn to look at Max.

Victoria has always been a touchy subject to Max, especially since she is Max’s first hook up in high school and quite possibly her first real love.

She is also the very person who made Max’s high school life a living hell by spreading rumors of Max being a desperate lesbian slut who threw herself at Victoria.

“You okay, Max?”

Before Chloe can even reach over, Max is already on her feet.

“I’m going to get myself some drinks from 7-11.”

Max walks out of Rachel and Chloe’s apartment hastily.

She desperately needs some fresh air, a beer, and a smoke.

It has begun to drizzle, not like Max cares. She walks in the rain, letting it pour freely onto her, soaking her pale, freckled skin.

Victoria Chase is a painfully bittersweet memory that Max tries desperately to bury.

In vain.

Like a scab that refused to heal, annoyingly itchy and impossible to ignore.

Max goes into the 7-11 to grab six-packs of beer, together with a packet of Marlboro Menthol Light.

She walks out of the convenient store, takes out a cigarette and is about to light it up when someone in a hoodie and sunglasses crashes into her, causing her to drop all her cigarettes on the wet floor.

“Fuck! Hey you! I just bought that!”

The person in hoodie glances back before her jaw drops.

“Maxine?”

It’s a familiar voice. One that Max will never forget.

Damn.

“Tori?”

That name slips out before Max can even register it.

The person removes the sunglasses to reveal a pair of beautiful, emerald green eyes. Eyes that Max used to love gazing into, drowning herself in the meadows of green.

Eyes that are once able to see through every layer of her self-doubt and insecurity, straight into her soul.

“Shit. Sorry about your….” Victoria's eyes widen when she sees a floor full of cigarettes. “You smoke now?”

Max just shrugs nonchalantly, willing herself not to show any bit of emotions even though her heart is pounding heavily. Victoria doesn’t deserve it. “What’re you doing here?”

Victoria looks around cautiously.

“You stay around here, Maxine?”

“It’s Max. Always been Max,” Max sighs. “I’m here for an exhibition and to visit some friends.”

“I see. You staying in a hotel?” Victoria’s voice is hurried and anxious.

“At The Capri Hotel down the street. Why do you wanna know?”

“Fantastic. Let’s go.”

“What!?”

Before Max can even voice her protest, Victoria has already grabbed Max by the hand and starts pulling her towards the hotel’s direction.

It’s been seven years and Max is still being led around by the Queen.

“Stop!” Max wriggles her hand out of Victoria’s grip. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Please, Maxine. I’m being followed. Just need a place to hide for a while.”

Max purses her lips and scowls. It honestly is none of her business. Why should she be helping her old nemesis? An old love who ruthlessly hurt her when she was 18?

“The paparazzi are relentless. I can’t go back to my apartment.”

“It’s none of my fucking business, V.”

“You are still mad at me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. You’re nothing but a stranger to me now, Vicky. And certainly none of my business.”

Victoria flinches at that statement and furrows her brows, lips quivering. Max wonders if she feels hurt by what she just said.

Serves her right.

“My friends are waiting for me,” Max turns and walks away, leaving Victoria standing in the rain staring at her with glassy eyes.

“Maxine! Wa–”

“There she is!” Two men holding large DSLR cameras run towards Victoria with a toothy, predatory grin.

“Go get her!”

Victoria’s face turns white as sheets.

Instinct kicks in instantly for Max. She is Super Max after all.  

Next thing Max knows, she is grabbing Victoria’s hand and running towards her hotel, into the lobby, and crashing into the lift.

Max bangs on the ‘close’ button, only letting out her breath when the door of the lift shuts.

“That was close.” Max pants.

“Thanks, Maxine,” Victoria says between her breaths. “I owe you one.”

“You owe me lots, Tori!” Max snaps. “Not that it matters. One hour. You leave in one hour.”

Max stomps out of the lift when it reaches the ninth floor and walks straight to her hotel room, Victoria following silently behind.

Room 0921.

Max places the cans of beer on the study table and pops one to drink.

The night is ruin.

Max just wants to get drunk with Chloe and Rachel tonight. Instead, she is stuck with an old flame.

An old flame that still looks so gorgeous. In fact, Victoria has grown even more beautiful after becoming a Hollywood star.

Not like Max can even avoid looking at Victoria these past seven years. She is everywhere — in the movies, in the magazines, even on Netflix.

She has grown to become so amazingly famous like a Chase rightfully deserves without Max by her side.

Her heart clenches when she thinks of that.

Max gulps down her can of beer before popping another one.

Victoria looks around the hotel room —  not sure if she should sit, so she stands —  and coughs out a small, awkward laughter.

“Wow, Maxine. Seven years and you are still as messy. Reminds me of our Blackwell days.”

And she throws in a smile for good measure, a smile that used to be reserved for Max and Max alone, a smile that used to be a daily morning ritual just for Max when she woke up in Victoria’s bed, warm and loved in Victoria’s arms.

A smile that now, no longer belongs to Max.

She shuts her eyes tightly, fingers gripping her can of beer so tightly, it begins to dent.

Blackwell days are long gone yet is always haunting like a ghost at the back of her head, refusing to leave no matter how hard Max tries.

“Seriously? You wanna talk about Blackwell days and how you screw me over?”

Victoria swallows hard.

“Look, Max. I’m sorry you think I screw you over. It’s just a very confusing time of my life. I had just been talent scouted and my parents were keen to sign me with the agency. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I just can’t let anything distract me, you know? I thought you would understand.”

“Stop your fucking bullshit, V.” Max flares up.

The ball of anger that’s been suppressed inside Max all these years explodes.

Fucking Victoria with her fucking lame excuses.

“You threw me to the wolves, spreading rumors about me stalking you as if I am some crazy bitch. Like I don’t matter, like what happened between us don’t matter.”

Max’s voice cracks into a scream.

“I know it meant nothing to you but it fucking meant everything to me, okay? Fuck!”

She crushes the can of beer and smashes it down on the table, spilling the golden liquid everywhere.

For seven years, Max wonders how she will react if she ever sees Victoria face to face again.

Will she give her a slap across her face? Will she yell at her? Will she spit in her eye?

Of all the reactions she thought she will have, she promises herself one thing.

That she will never cry.

But now that she is standing in front of the first love of her life, tears flow uncontrollably down her freckled cheeks.

And before Max can even wipe those damn tears away from her cheeks, a pair of soft, perfectly manicured hands are already cupping her face and thumbing away her tears.

“I hate you, Tori… I really hate you.” Max cries as Victoria pulls her into a warm and familiar embrace.

 

\-----

 

Victoria never expects to see Max in LA.

She has seen Rachel Amber around since she is a famous model now, and even that rowdy friend of Max (Kari? Cherry?) around — since she is always following Rachel around like a lost puppy — but never Max. Rachel and her lap dog will always give her the stink eye if they ever meet. That one time Victoria attempted to ask about Max’s well being almost earned her a black eye from that lap dog. Thankfully, her reflexes are pretty good and she manages to stop the lap dog’s punch with a kick to her shin with her stilettos.

Victoria has never seen Max since their Blackwell days.

Her last memory of Max is of her glaring angrily _and_ tearfully at Victoria while she slams her door in Max’s face.

_Sweetie, you have to sacrifice something in order to gain everything._

Her mother’s voice is still ringing in her ears till this day. But has Victoria really gained everything from sacrificing her relationship with Max?

No.

She has lost everything instead — the love of her life, her happiness, her freedom and now her dignity — all because her parents wanted her to have a shot at being rich and famous. And rich and famous she has become, but she is lonely and lost without any direction nor anchor in her life.

So when Victoria bumps into Max outside the convenience store, on the very day the whole world seems to be out to get her, it makes her believes that it is destiny that led her back to Max again.

She is ecstatic.

All the flings and relationships she has had in the past seven years has taught her two things: One, she is definitely gay. Two, she has not gotten over Maxine.

The latest relationship with Tom H. William is Victoria’s last attempt at being in a “normal” relationship, only to fail miserably when she set her eyes on a woman she met at a charity gala dinner.

A woman who has pale skin with freckles peppered beautifully across her face, and brown hair, with an innocent smile.

A woman who reminds her of a distant memory that used to make her smile, but now only makes her wants to bawl her eyes out.

It was a one night stand that Victoria wanted Tom to know. A deliberate attempt to force herself out of the comfort zone that Tom builds for her.

She wants to be free.

Little does she know that she has also forced Tom out of _his_ comfort zone.

Little does she know she will crash and burn.

But Maxine Caulfield appears again, like an oasis in the desert, a glimmer of hope in times of despair, like an angel sends from above.

How Victoria wishes she can throw her arms around Max and kiss her passionately like all the times she did in her Blackwell dormitory room.

But Victoria knows she can’t.

She has lost the right when she betrays Max’s trust to choose fame over love.

She has lost the right to be protected by Max.

She has lost the right to be cared for by Max.

Yet here she is, in standing in the middle of Max’s hotel room because Max has chosen to help her.

Again.

Butterflies are fluttering in Victoria’s stomach like the very first time Max kissed her when they were 18. A kiss so unsure and light, Victoria had to press forward to assure Max that it’s okay.

They were once okay.

They are not okay.

Victoria has no idea what to say in front of her ex-lover whom she has not met for seven years, so she does the only thing she does best.

She criticizes.

“Wow, Maxine. Seven years and you are still as messy. Reminds me of our Blackwell days.”

Victoria wants to slap her mouth the moment that comes out, but it is too late to chase it all back now so she just gives Max her best smile, hoping she can get away with it.

“Seriously? You wanna talk about Blackwell days and how you screw me over?”

Max sounds furious.

Victoria bites down on her lip, swallowing a lump of panic and anxiety rising rapidly up her throat.

She opens her mouth, but instead of apologizing, her defense mechanism kicks in.

_No, Victoria, don’t._

She completes her sentence before she can even stop herself.

“I thought you would understand.”

And that does it.

Max explodes.

The floodgates opened and Max’s voice cracks into a scream.

All Victoria can hear is Max telling her how their past meant everything to her.

All Victoria can see is Max crying tears of anger and hurt.

And that is enough for Victoria to rush in and does what she has wanted to do for the whole night.

She cups Max’s face to wipe her tears away before pulling Max into her.

“I hate you, Tori… I really hate you.” Max cries has she pounds her fists on Victoria’s chest.

“I miss you, Maxine. So very, very much. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry...”

And that’s enough for the wall of seven years to come crumbling down.

 _Is it cool that I said all that?_  
_Is it chill that you're in my head?_  
_'Cause I know that it's delicate (delicate)_

Victoria remembers Max.

Remembers her scent, her shampoo, her perfume.

Remembers how warm and soft and nice she feels.

Remembers brown hair, blue eyes, cute freckles.

Victoria remembers Max and how she makes her feels.

The love, the hope, the happiness.

Maxine is finally back in Tori’s arms again.

Tears stream down Victoria’s face as she presses her lips on Max’s lips.

It starts slow and uncertain and light.

But then Max presses forward to encourage Victoria to go deeper.

So Victoria obeys.

Lips melding together like two parts of a puzzle fitting perfectly together.

Teeth nibbling and grazing and tongues wrestling for dominance.

Max pushes Victoria onto her bed while she climbs on top of her, never once breaking the kiss they have been yearning for the past seven years.

Max grabs Victoria’s hands and locks them above her head, teeth brushing teasingly along Victoria’s collarbone, earning a gasp from Victoria.

Victoria marvels at how assertive and dominating Max has become. Totally unlike when she was 18.

The years must have sharpened her experience in bed. Not like Victoria wants to think about how many people Max has slept with after her.

But there is no time for thinking because Max has gripped Victoria’s short blonde hair and given it a sharp, light tug while she sinks her teeth into her neck, causing Victoria to groan out in pain _and_ pleasure.

“Oh, Maxine. Don’t stop…”

Max stops deliberately, gazing right into Victoria’s eyes with a cheeky glint.

Sapphire blue swirling in Emerald green.

They make such a beautiful pair.

Max dives back in again, her hand reaches the zipper of Victoria’s dress and pulls it down hastily before removing it, throwing the dress carelessly at the bottom of the bed.

Max’s hand cups Victoria’s breast while she presses her lips on her nipple, her warm, slick tongue licking deliciously across her nipple. Victoria’s eyes roll up in pleasure, the edges of her vision fade as a moan escapes her mouth.

Victoria cannot remember how many times she has wished and fantasized and craved for this moment. To be back with the love of her life, making sweet love like they were back in Blackwell again.

No one has ever loved her and understood her as Max did. No one has ever known her — the real Victoria Chase — like Max had.

And being back in Max’s arms again feels like a dream comes true. Her body is responding to Max’s every touch like a flower craving for water after a hot, summer day.

And _oh God_ , does Max know how to touch her.

Victoria stretches and splays across the sheets, her manicured fingers gripping tightly at Max’s brown hair while her toes curl up in ecstasy as Max’s fingers touch and dip and thrust inside of her, knowing exactly where to touch, at what rhythm and how much pressure to use to drive Victoria crazy, like she has the map of Victoria at her fingertips.

Right when Victoria thinks she’s coming undone, Max stops her pumping because she _knows_ Victoria is coming undone and Max _does not allow it_.

“Not yet, Tori. Not yet.”

Max’s voice is hot and heavy with desire and passion, stroking Victoria’s core aflame.

Victoria whimpers. She wants her release, but she also wants to stretch this moment with Max for as long as she can.

Victoria grinds her hip forward, hoping to chase the touch that Max has just been giving and now denying her.

“Nope, Tori.” Max gives Victoria a slap on her butt and Victoria whines. “Still so impatient after all these years, aren’t you?”

Max gives her a toothy grin, her cheeks hot and rosy from arousal, and her freckles light up like the stars in the sky.

Victoria used to count Max’s freckles when Max was asleep in her arms. She knows exactly how many freckles there are on her face, her shoulders, her breasts.

Or at least, she used to know.

Victoria wishes she has the chance to count them all over again, and to memorise it to heart.

She reaches over to kiss Max again, her fingers fumbling to unbutton the blouse that Max is still wearing, to reveal a baby pink bra top that looks super cute on Max. Max has always love wearing pastel-colored undergarments. Victoria is glad to learn that some things are still the same with Max after all these years.

In one swift motion, Victoria reaches the buckle at the back and removes her baby pink bra. Her fingers dancing across Max’s skin, each touch setting her ablaze as Max lets out a shaky moan. Victoria wastes no time to unzip Max’s jeans while Max helps to remove that irritating piece of clothing off of her.

Victoria once again stops to take a good look at Max. Baby pink underwear the same shade as her bra. Victoria smiles, glad that Max is matching her undergarments like Victoria has constantly instructed her to do when they were together.

But enough reminiscing. Victoria tugs the waistband of Max’s underwear down her legs and tosses it in a pile somewhere. She settles herself between Max’s legs, pulling her knees apart and inhaling the sweet scent of Max. It smells like desire and love but most importantly, it smells like home.

Max whimpers as Victoria blows lightly on her clit before pressing her tongue right where Max wants them, moving tantalizingly slow across her slick folds.

“Faster,” Max moans out breathlessly and desperately.

To Max’s dismay, Victoria stops and gives her a mischievous grin. “Still so impatient after all these years, aren’t —” But she never manages to finish her sentence because Max is already shoving Victoria’s face against her wet lips while she bucks her hips into her face.

“Shut up and fuck me!”

And Victoria obeys.

Her tongue dances sensuously along Max’s clit, lapping and licking and sucking, leaving burning embers on wet skin. Max’s breath gets heavier with each stroke of Victoria’s tongue.

But it’s not enough.

Victoria _needs_ to hear more of Max’s unbridle desire and yearning for her. She _needs_ to hear Max cries out her name.

Victoria slides a finger into Max, then two, causing Max to make the most exquisite sound that Victoria has ever heard in the longest time. She curls her fingers, stroking and pumping rhythmically into Max while her tongue never stops teasing Max’s swollen clit.

Max arches her body forward, jaws slack and eyes squeeze shut in pure ecstasy.

“Tori...” Max calls out.

Again.

“Tori, don’t stop-” Her cries become louder.

Again.

“Tori!” Max screams.

Again and again and again.

Victoria _needs_ to hear her name being called out like a prayer from Max’s lips, over and over again because it’s been far too long and she’s been missing Max far too much.

And Max unravels under her, like the many times she did, seven years ago…

 

\-----

 

When Victoria wakes up the next morning, cold and without a warm body beside her, she panicked.

She jolts out of bed and searches around the whole room for Max.

In vain.

Victoria curls up in the bed and cries.

She no longer wants to be alone.

She no longer wants to be without Max.

She will rather sacrifice her everything just so she can have something precious in her life.

Something precious like Max.

It has always been Max.

Victoria sobs into the pillow, like the many times she did when she left Max seven years ago.

Suddenly, the door clicks open and Victoria almost jump.

Standing in the doorway, like an angel sends from heaven, is Max, with breakfast in her hands and a smile so bright, it almost hurts.

“Good morning, Tori.”

And that’s when Victoria finally knows.

They are okay.

**Author's Note:**

> _Sometimes I wonder when you sleep_   
>  _Are you ever dreaming of me?_   
>  _Sometimes when I look into your eyes_   
>  _I pretend you're mine, all the damn time_   
>  _'Cause I like you_


End file.
